While the corexy design is still a work in progress it’s slowly but surely materializing. For now, we decided to go with a simple but functional design but still have many plans that will later be adapted for additional tools and configurations. We recently moved the z-axis motors to the bottom of the printer and are set up to either use three independent driven z-axis motors or a single driven motor with the belt path connecting to three z-axis lead screws.

• Modular / Scalable
• All Metal or 3d printed
• Linear Rails
• Balanced Carriage Pull
• Enclosure
• Triple Z-Axis: Independent Driven or Shared Belt Routing

Our long-term goal is to build a modular platform, not just a printer. Think of it as an ecosystem of parts that can be arranged in different configurations and adapted for unique applications.

• Mods
• Upgrades
• Customized Parts

The motor and idler mounts placed on the inside corners of the frame gives us clearance to easily mount an enclosure. This configuration also eliminates any design constraints of overall length and width which makes the machine completely modular and scalable. Eventually, we would like to have a spreadsheet or configuration tool that will allow you to input the current frame or linear rails that someone already owns and output length and rail options. Or if you’re aiming for a specific build area, you can input the data and it will output the frame and rail length options.

The SolidCore is designed to be a highspeed workhorse for repeated use. All-metal-parts and components will give us the durability and repeatability needed. But we want people to have the option to use 3d printed parts so they can upgrade later on. Solid all metal parts are durable and less likely to deflect at high printing speeds. The aluminum components are also less likely to breakdown overtime when introduced to the forces and heat from repeated use.

The carriage and gantry are designed to be light weight and strong. We currently use c-shaped aluminum stock because it reduces machining time. The reduced machining time and minimized waste helps but it’s a compromise. That's going to change soon. We’ll probably make some changes such as reorienting the the y-axis linear rail into a vertical position similar to the RailCore but the current horizontal version will be easier to adapt an E3D Toolchanger. The top plates or motor/belt mounting plates that mount the idler pulleys have recently changed as well. The motor/belt mounting plates shown position the z-axis motors on top vs the bottom of the machine. When I first designed the plates I thought it would look cool with the motors on top but after I machined everything I realized that moving the bed up and down could cause deflection in the main plates.

The left motor plates are going to be re-machined to give room for a tool changer setup.

The overall footprint of the machine relative to print volume is somewhat excessive. In order to have a solid enclosure design I had to move the motors inside the frame boundary. This sacrificed the overall printer size to print volume ratio.

We’re aiming to balance the pull to the center of carriage instead above it or below. It seems to be more rigid and minimize deflection. The belts are somewhat within the same plane of the three linear rails to avoid rocking cantilever loads that other designs may have with the belts up high or down low.

The original prototype was about 350mm x 350mm x 350mm print area but we now have a 200mm x 300mm and 400mm x 400mm build volume.